Gage a finalist for Topeka job

Friday

Jul 14, 2017 at 10:33 PMJul 14, 2017 at 10:33 PM

From staff and wire reports

TOPEKA — Salina City Manager Jason Gage is among five finalists for the city manager's job in Topeka.

Other finalists include interim Topeka city manager Doug Gerber, who served for several months in 2003 as assistant city manager of Salina; Jeffrey Dingman, deputy city administrator since 2011 for Fort Smith, Ark.; David Hales, city manager since 2008 for Bloomington, Ill.; and Brent Trout, city administrator since 2007 for Mason City, Iowa.

Topeka’s city government on Friday morning released the names of finalists for the city manager’s job, which Gerber has filled on an interim basis since City Manager Jim Colson resigned in October to return to his home in Arizona.

The candidates are expected to be in Topeka Friday and July 22 to be interviewed by the city’s governing body. They will meet with the public at a community reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday at the city’s Holliday Building, 620 S.E. Madison.

City officials haven’t released the interview schedule or said whether the governing body, which consists of the nine city council members and Mayor Larry Wolgast, will interview the candidates in public or in private.

Fits aspirations

Gage said he has no reason to leave Salina — “it’s a very good town with very good people” — but moving to a larger community fits with his career aspirations.

He’s been in Salina for a total of 18 years, counting all three stints, and it’s time to move if he’s going to, he said. Gage is almost 49.

“The complexity of challenges is greater in a larger community,” Gage said. “I like taking challenges and just being in a larger organization.

“I don’t see myself in a large city but in a town with a population of around 100,000."

Topeka, with a population of 127,692, fits that description and is still in Kansas.

“I’ve become very fond of Kansas,” the native of southwest Missouri said.

Lots of experience

Like all of the candidates, Gage has more than 20 years of local government management experience. Before becoming Salina's city manager in July 2005, he was its assistant city manager from March 1999 to June 2003. He was an intern with the city from May 1993 to October 1994. He was city manager for Stillwater, Okla., from 2003 to 2005 and De Soto, Mo., from 1994 to 1999.

He has a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Missouri and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Missouri Southern State College.

Gage informed the Salina City Commission on June 26 that he was a finalist for the Topeka job.

Salina Mayor Kaye Crawford has been on the Salina City Commission about seven years, but she also worked for Gage when she was head of the city's human relations department.

“I’ve seen Jason from both sides because I worked for the city for almost 25 years,” Crawford said. “I found him to be one of the hardest working city managers I’ve been associated with.

A hard worker

She said he retains his sense of passion related to his work and stays upbeat.

“I’ve really watched with a great deal of regard as he’s waded through problems and issues,” such as downtown development, she said. “I’ve never seen him when he didn’t handle things in an efficient manner.”

She stressed that she always found him to be fair in his dealings with people and that he was “excellent” to work for.

When interviewed in 2014 for the “Engaging Government Leaders” website, Gage said the meaning of life is “to make a positive difference in the lives of others, while finding happiness and exalting the creator.”

When asked if he could “FaceTime with five people (dead or alive and not including family members),” Gage said the list would consist of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Harry S. Truman, Elvis Presley, Bill Clinton and John Wooden.

He added, “Yes, I do recognize this is a list of six.”

Short-time Salinan

Gerber also has 20 years of local government experience. He began working for the city of Topeka in 2014 and became deputy city manager in September 2015. Gerber was city manager for Goodland from 2009 to 2014, city administrator for Beloit from 2003 to 2009 and assistant city manager for Salina from July 2003 to September 2003.

Gerber has a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree in political science, both from Kansas State University.

Topeka Councilwoman Elaine Schwartz on Jan. 31 suggested hiring Gerber as city manager instead of hiring a firm to help the city conduct a nationwide search, and Councilman and Deputy Mayor Jeff Coen voted in support of a motion Schwartz made seeking to give the governing body the option of taking that step.

But Councilwomen Sylvia Ortiz and Michelle De La Isla voiced concerns about Gerber’s performance, then voted in the majority as the governing body chose Keller, Texas-based Strategic Government Resources to help with the search.

Other candidates

Other candidates include:

• Dingman, who has more 20 years of local government experience. Before taking his current position in Fort Smith, he was city administrator from 2003 to 2011 for Baldwin City; assistant county administrator for Sebastian County, Ark.; and administrative aide to the city manager for University Park, Texas. He has a law degree and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Kansas and a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Baker University.

• Hales has 37 years of local government experience. Before taking his current job in Bloomington, he was director of finance and administrative services for the city of West Jordan, Utah, and city manager for the cities of Bend, Ore., Kanapolis, N.C., and Centerville, Utah. He has a master’s degree in public administration from Brigham Young University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Utah.

• Before taking his current job in Mason City, Trout was city administrator and city clerk for the cities of Boone, Eagle Grove and Bancroft, all in Iowa. He spent more than 29 years in the Iowa Army National Guard, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2015. He has master’s and bachelor’s degrees in public administration from Drake University.

— Tim Hrenchir of The Topeka Capital-Journal contributed to this report.